Lost and Found
by Very-Bored-Anon
Summary: No one understood Roy's pain- what he felt when he woke up at the hospital bed eight years in the future; feeling lost and alone. But Garth knows. He knows what it's like.


**Lost and Found**

"Take these to Red Arrow, wouldja, amigo?" Blue Beetle said as he gave Tempest a file.

"Where does he live?" Tempest asked as he took the file.

"At Star City's Apartment Complex," Blue Beetle replied. "He lives a few doors away from Arsenal with Lian. I think it's… door 14."

Tempest simply nodded and left. He left the room and went into the lockers. Opening his, Tempest took out a set of civvies—a turquoise hoodie and a pair of denim jeans with a pair of purple Converses. After changing into those clothes, he was not Tempest now, he is Garth Curry instead. Garth slid the file into a black laptop bag, and put on a flat, grey cap. He was ready to go now.

He took the train to Star City and a bus to the apartment complex. Following Blue Beetle's directions, Garth stopped in front of door 14. He rang the doorbell and waited. He could hear the sound of footsteps walking up to the door. He saw a blue eye looking at him through the peephole. There was the sound of multiple locks being opened before the door opened, but was restrained by one more door chain.

Garth blinked with surprise. The person he was looking at was not Red Arrow, the clone of Roy Harper; it was the _real_ Roy Harper—Arsenal. Blue Beetle gave him the wrong directions.

But Roy seemed to have expected Garth. He told him, "Red Arrow lives five doors to my right, which is door _9_." Then, he slammed the door shut and put the locks back up again.

"Sorry," Garth said before leaving. He jogged down to door 9, feeling embarrassed about the previous encounter. From the way Roy reacted to his visit, being visited by accident was a normal thing for Roy.

Finally, he reached door 9, and rang the doorbell. This time, he was answered by the Roy Harper he was _supposed_ to meet.

"Let me guess," Clone Roy said, smirking as he took the file, "you were given _Arsenal_'s home address, weren't you?"

"Is it normal for him?" Garth asked.

"It is, actually," Roy replied. "This is the eight time this month."

Then, he leant forward and whispered into Garth's ear, "Do me a favour, will you? Go visit that guy; he's been depressed lately."

Garth blushed and stepped back, startled. "_Me_?" Garth sputtered, pointing at himself. "_Visit him_? But we hardly know each other!"

"Then, this is a good chance to," Roy said, putting a hand on Garth's shoulder. Then, he took it away and scratched his head awkwardly. "And _really_, Arsenal's been brooding a lot lately. Ever since being freed, then getting kicked off the Team, and being visited accidentally—which is the main reason he's very depressed now."

Eventually, Garth relented. He sighed and said, "Okay, I'll go talk to him. But if he doesn't let me in, I'm leaving."

Roy smiled. "Thanks, Garth."

* * *

><p>Garth was back at door 14, his finger a centimetre away from the doorbell. He really did not want to do this, but if Real Roy was really <em>that<em> depressed, then he _should_ go visit him. But Garth had never spoken to Roy before, only his clone. And according to the other members of the Team and the Justice League, Arsenal was a very reckless person who tends to act selfishly and is rather insecure with a personal vendetta against Lex Luthor.

Finally, Garth was able to press the doorbell. He hears the footsteps again, sees the eye looking at him through the peephole, and the sound of the locks being opened again. This time, Roy opened _all_ the locks. He opened the door wide, looking at Garth with an annoyed expression.

"Did _he_ send you here?" Roy asked, softly—which meant he was _very _angry.

"You mean, the _other_ Roy Harper?" Garth asked uncertainly. "If so, yes, he did tell me to visit you again He, uh….said that you were, well… _depressed_, and—"

Roy held up a hand to silence Garth. Then, he sighed and asked Garth, "Why did you even visit me when you didn't even _want_ to?"

Now it was Garth's turn to sigh. "I guess…" he began. "Red Arrow seemed so _worried_, so I relented. And given your reputation, I suppose it would be a good idea to."

Roy stared at Garth before rolling his eyes and stepping away to invite Garth in. He even held an arm (his robot one) out for show.

"Come in, then," he said.

Garth smiled and entered.

Roy's apartment was simple. There was a living room, a kitchenette, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Garth sat on a blue sofa as Roy went to get them some drinks. He came back with two glasses of water. He gave on to Garth before sitting beside him and drinking his.

"So," Roy began, "what do you want to talk about?"

Garth raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be the one talking, you know, about your problems?"

Roy raised an eyebrow too. "You want _me_ to _talk_? Then, you'll probably have to stay the night and _you_'ll have no chance to talk at all."

"Well, we _are_ discussing _your_ problems."

There was a silence between them before Roy took a deep breath and started talking.

"I guess… my problems start when I woke up at the hospital, missing my arm and _eight_ years of life, looking up at Ollie and _another_ me. Then, they told me _everything_ and I got mad and well… _exploded_, I guess. I yelled at Ollie, told him and the clone to leave me alone—I was kinder to the clone, of course—then left the hospital, to the hideout, put on my costume, grabbed some weapons and zeta-ed to Metro—"

"Okay, _stop_," Garth said suddenly, holding up a hand to silence Roy. "You're supposed to be telling me about your _problems_, not your life story."

"Don't you get it?" Roy said angrily, glaring at Garth. "My _life_ is the _freakin'_ problem!"

Then, he turned away and began ranting.

"When I was found, I thought life would go on as normal—but _no_! It _didn't_! _I_'m the original, but everyone sees me as the clone instead! I'm supposed to be 23! I should be older than Dick; than Wally; I shouldn't have to take orders from _them_! But instead, I'm stuck in the body of a 15-year-old! I don't even fit in with the other members—I'm too _old_ to. I… I don't fit in _anywhere_…"

With that, Roy's voice trailed off as he then hugged himself. Tears flood his eyes and pour down his cheeks as he stared downwards.

"I just feel so… _lost_," he said softly. His body was trembling each breathe he took. "Everything changed while I was gone. The Roy Harper everyone knows is Red Arrow, and I'm just… some troublemaking, mentally-disturbed teen who can't get over his problems… But how can I get over my problems when I don't even know how to _solve_ them? No one understands… No one understands my feelings—my _pain_."

Meanwhile, Garth was not paying attention to Roy any more. His attention had wandered off into his own past when _he_ was a _lost little boy_ in the _vast ocean_.

_A little boy swims around the Pacific Ocean. He has black hair that flowed around in the seawater, gills on his neck, webbed fingers, a torn pair of grey shorts for clothing, and vibrant purple eyes. He swims warily, careful to avoid schools of fishes and underwater predators like sharks_

_His stomach rumbled with hunger. He had not eaten in a day and his energy was depleting. He spots a lone salmon. He eyes widened, and he instantly strikes the fish, catching it in his mouth. He stops in a desolated area and ate the fish as it struggled. Clouds of blood flowed out of the fish and onto his face but he did not care; he was hungry and he wanted to eat._

_When he was done, he threw the bones aside and continued swimming. Suddenly, something struck him from the side. It was a Hammerhead Shark. It was gnawing his side. The boy holds the shark's jaws open with his bare hands as he escaped its bite. There was a large bite mark on his torso now and blood was leaking out. The boy uses his strength to push the shark as far away as possible before swimming away at high speed. But he was still too weak, that one fish he ate was not enough to replenish all his lost energy and blood was still flowing out of the bite mark. The shark was charging at him again, he will not be able to stop it this time._

_Suddenly, the shark stopped. The boy turned around and looked at the shark. The shark was staring into space dazedly. Then, it turned around and swam away. The boy watched curiously, shocked too. He looked around, searching for what may have made the shark leave._

"_Hello, there, child."_

_The boy turned around, raising his fists defensively. He comes face to face with an older man. The man was blonde with a beard. He wore an orange and green swimsuit and carried a gold staff. Accompanying him were two identically armoured men. The man extends a hand towards the boy._

"_I am King Arthur," the man said._

_The boy snarls and swats King Arthur's away. The armoured men pulled out guns but King Arthur waved them down._

"_Don't!" he said. "He's just a little boy."_

"_My King," one of them said, "it's the purple eyes. Have you not heard the warning?"_

"_The boy of purple eyes will be Atlantis's downfall," the other cited._

"_He'll _never_ be accepted."_

"_Not if we take care of him," said King Arthur as he swam closer to the boy, gently putting his raised fists down to calm him, "show him compassion and love. He will be a good man—I can feel it in him."_

_King Arthur looked into the boy's eyes, and tapped his chest, asking, "What is your name, child?"_

_The boy stared back. His name, he wondered. He searched his mind, trying to find it._

Garth.

_The word echoed in his mind. He focused his stare back onto King Arthur._

"_Garth," he replied, his voice roughed and gravelly._

"_Well, Garth," King Arthur said, "we're going to take you to Atlantis."_

Gath's attention was brought back to Roy, who was sobbing now.

"I feel… so _alone_," Roy sobbed out, "as if no one's even going to bother to _try_ to understand my problems."

Suddenly, Garth hugged Roy. Roy was shocked by the sudden embrace, but then hugged back. He sobbed into Garth's shoulder.

"I understand," Garth said softly. "I know what it's like—being alone; lost, with no one out there who would help you. But eventually, there _will_ be someone who will."

"Like _you_?" Roy asked.

"Yeah," Garth replied, "maybe."

***END***

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><p><strong>Okay, this fic has gotten, like, 40+ views, and to those who actually read every word down to this note, could you review the story? I mean, the fact that lots of people read this story but don't bother review makes me wonder if people do read it. And also, I have a feeling that there might be something wrong. Care to tell me in the reviews, reader?<strong>


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